SARAH
by Night Owl 93
Summary: (A sequel to King's novel CARRIE). On Prom night '79, Carrie White used her telekinesis to destroy the town of Chamberlain, Maine. Nine months later, Sue Snell gave birth to a girl, named Sarah... a very special child...
1. Chapter 1

**Reminder: this is a sequel to King's novel CARRIE, not to any of the movies (though this could be partially applied to the Kimberly Pierce adaptation).**

**If you haven't read the book, this won't make sense.**

* * *

"Okay, Sue, now push!"

She pushed as hard as she could. She gathered up every ounce of might she could collect from inside, but it still wasn't enough.

"It's not coming out," she wept in heaving gasps, "It's not gonna come out."

"It's coming, sweetheart, it's coming," her mother crooned in her ear as she kept her grip on her daughter's hand.

"Push, Sue," the doctor continued to urge, "One more big push!"

"Come on, honey, just one more push, just one more _big _push! You can do it!"

"I ca…can't," she wheezed, "I can't!"

Still, she gave it her all. As she screamed with the agony of her effort, one of the fluorescent lights above surged, burning brighter and brighter, until the bulb finally shorted out and died.

The baby still hadn't come, and Sue had used up the last of her strength. Her eyes crossed and her vision faded into darkened blurs. In her last moment of coherence, she could feel a flex that pushed from inside her belly that gave her release as the head passed through at last.

It was a girl. The last thing she saw was her baby's beady blue eyes peaking open for the first time…

'_Momma'_

…before her own fell shut.

* * *

She dreamed then, dreamed of the nine months passed.

It began with the blood. It glowed a warm, almost orange color by the light of the fires that had taken down The Cavalier Roadhouse. Just a few yards away, crashed halfway through the crumbled down wall, was the flaming skeleton of Billy Nolan's Chevrolet. The corpses of Billy and Chris Hargensen roasted in the front seats. All around, power lines danced like snakes, shocking and burning people who tried to flee, trees and houses burned, dismantled fire hydrants showered the streets. It was chaos; bloody chaos.

Just at Sue's feet was the barely-living body of Carrie White. She laid across the asphalt on her side, still in her velvet prom dress, now tattered and dyed deep scarlet, same as every other inch of her body, with blood that was mostly not her own. The trail smeared along the ground showed she had dragged herself from the far end of the lot to this spot before she fell unconscious from her exsanguination. The hilt of the carving knife gleamed like a ruby from where it protruded from her shoulder.

She fell to her knees on the ground. She grabbed the knife by its handle to pull it free, but as soon as she touched it, a crippling pain suddenly crested through her entire body, starting inside her brain and rippling through her limbs.

'_Ow! It hurts it hurts it hurts! Mommyyy!'_

It was Carrie's voice crying out, even though she still laid out cold. It was not spoken vocally, but sounded with an echo through Sue's mind.

'_Why couldn't you just leave me alone?' _Carrie cried into Sue's head, _'Why? Your fault all your fault!'_

'_What happened Carrie?' _Sue begged, using her own inner voice to speak back, _'Where's Tommy? What…'_

A whole collage of images flooded Sue's mind.

'_Tricked me. You tricked me, all of you!'_

There was Tommy and Carrie at the dance, her looking and feeling beautiful and adored for the first time in her life, them going up the stage to be crowned King and Queen, the red splash, blood, the Lord visited Eve with a curse the curse of blood, Tommy sleeping, laughter, sprinklers, fire…

'_Carrie stop, please it hurts!'_

…the gas station exploding, poles toppling, broken hydrants, electricity, more fire, prayer, Daddy Ralph's knife, our Father, Momma's heart, Chris and Billy in Billy's car, roadhouses, whiskey, sulfur rain and brimstone, Angel's fiery sword of vengeance…

'_They're all dead! Tommy's dead! My Momma's dead! It's all your fault! All your fault!'_

'_No Carrie, not my fault! I tried to help you. So sorry I'm so sorry, sorry, sorry…'_

Sue crossed the bridge that connected their minds and projected her own film back for Carrie.

Flinging tampons, plug it up plug it up, hour of detention with Miss Desjardin, Tommy I want you to take Carrie White to the prom, decorations, Chris Hargensen's smug grin, home alone, late a whole week late, boom, red horizon, alarms blaring, take Mom's car, explosions, trail of blood… But there was nothing that proved that Sue was guilty of this grandest humiliation brought unto Carrie White.

'_Momma's dead! My Momma's dead!'_

'_Carrie…'_

'_Momma where are you! I want my Momma! I hurt so bad it hurts so BAD! MOMMY HELP ME!'_

'_Carrie LET ME GO!'_

The link remained. Sue wanted to pull back, free from Carrie grasp, but did not know how to cut loose from it, and Carrie's mental strength was far greater than hers.

'_MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!'_

Carrie unleashed a final howl of agony, much like an animal wounded and left to die after being shot. With their connection still intact, Sue could feel it inside herself, could feel the knife in her shoulder, the last of her blood draining out of her, her pulse slowing and slowing. Even while next to a burning building, she could feel herself going cold.

'_So cold Momma I'm so cold'_

'_So sorry Carrie oh god so sorry so sorry so sorry…'_

'_Momma where are…'_

And just like that, she dissolved into the blackness completely. Nothing. Crushing abyss.

Sue didn't know how long she sat there with her consciousness still lost in that same void Carrie was now in; even after death, the link held. She didn't remember having gotten to her feet, nor having traversed the mile of field beyond the burning roadhouse. All she knew was that her channel on Carrie's dead frequency had at last separated.

In that next moment, she could feel a soft twinge in her belly, like a cramp trying to burst its way out, and could feel the warm flow of blood running down her thighs. She screamed, a long, harsh, cheated scream, and she collapsed onto the bedewed grass, lying curled on her side as she listened to the sirens of fire trucks blare by.

* * *

She must have passed out, because the next thing she knew, a calloused palm was patting her cheek, bringing her to consciousness. The hand belonged to a man in a white EMT uniform, spotted with soot, same as his thinning scalp and hands.

"Miss," she heard him say, "Can you hear me?"

She shifted to push herself upright. With the EMT's assistance, she succeeded.

"Are you hurt?" he then asked, "Do you need us to take you to the hospital?"

From the distance of where she sat, Sue could see the remains of the Cavalier, the car, and Carrie White. Two ambulances and two police cars were parked alongside the curb a short distance from the destroyed building.

"Miss?" the paramedic spoke again, snapping his fingers in front of her face, but she remained unresponsive.

"Okay, I think we better take you in. Can you stand, miss?"

He took her by the hand and was easily able to bring her to her feet. Without any instruction, Sue began to walk forward, one foot in front of the other, with the medical officer beside her, until they made it to the rear of one of the ambulances. Just as she was being led up into the vehicle, she watched as the zipper was being drawn up and Carrie White's body was sealed in black plastic.


	2. Chapter 2

A few other teenagers from Ewen high school were in the hospital that night as well, still in their prom-wear, only now soaked and tattered. Their psyches were injured more severely than their bodies. One boy had received severe burns over at least half of his body; another boy had a shattered leg and concussion, a girl broke her arm, dislocated that same shoulder, and broke her nose, another girl's hair had caught fire… the list of injuries went on.

Sue's parents had been called just as she had been brought in. They arrived within minutes, still dressed for their own date. Fortunately for them, they had been out miles away from town as the fires spread, miles away from harm. Sue was thankful for that. They stayed in the waiting area, her father pacing and her mother fidgeting, while Sue underwent a whole array of tests.

After they were completed, Sue went out to see her parents, who both pulled her in tightly. Her mom cried, but Sue didn't; she had shed enough tears to last her the rest of her life.

"Ehem."

All three turned their attention to the white coat-wearing doctor with half-moon glasses on his nose and a clipboard in his hand.

"Mister and Missus Snell?" he began as he flipped through one sheet after another on his board. "Your daughter, Sue, is perfectly alright, considering; she's been through a hell of an ordeal. She may suffer PTSD for a while, so she'll need plenty of rest."

"Okay," Mr. Snell sighed, "Thanks, doc."

"There is some good news, though," the doctor then said, looking over his charts once more, then to Sue, "You're pregnant."

Sue's hands reflexively touched her stomach. She looked down at the white polyester shirt and pants she had been changed into, remembering the blood she had seen coursing down her legs just hours ago. Her period had been late, that was all. And even if she had been pregnant, it had to have been terminated when the bleeding began.

"But… but how?" Sue gasped, "I… I mean, I had my…"

"A false alarm," the doctor explained, "False menstruations do seem unusual, but they aren't that uncommon, especially during the first trimester. During pregnancy, your body produces and contains fifty percent more blood for the baby. Sometimes it, well, leaks out. But it's nothing to worry about; no more serious than a nosebleed. Your baby is fit and healthy."

His attention was redirected by two more injured persons, one unconscious and the other wailing, being wheeled in, leaving Sue feeling her belly in disbelief.

* * *

**Before anyone tries to dispute me, YES, you can still get a period even while pregnant, it's true. The same happened to the character Vivian Harmon on AHS season 1, and mother had her period for the first month or two when she was pregnant with my sister. It's unnusual, but Carrie is an unusual story isn't it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Physically speaking, the pregnancy passed by with ease. She could honestly say that she had never felt more vibrant and healthy than with that child growing inside her. Although, it was an ordeal having her appetite doubled.

The only trouble was when the baby kicked, which it liked to do a lot, more and more so as it developed. The kicks didn't come as thumps or bumps from a miniature fist or leg. Rather, her entire whole womb shifted inside her with the force of the blow, as if her belly would burst from the pressure from within.

The worst was when she slept. Her guilty conscience gave her no reprieve. Every night when she closed her eyes, Sue could hear Carrie White's voice ringing inside her mind just as it did the night she had died in her arms. Then when the dreams ended and she was left with the darkness of the backs of her eyelids, for the briefest moment, she would think that she was in that abyss that Carrie had pulled her into. After her eyes opened again and she found herself still living, her hand would touch the mound of her stomach to feel another powerful kick, and she would be doubly grateful that the life inside her remained unharmed and continued to grow.

On the afternoon of the fourth of February, Sue and her mother were driving back from lunch at Kelly Fruit. Sue sat in the passenger side, her hands resting on top of her fully-grown belly.

'_Any day now…'_

She gazed out through her sun shades at the buildings gliding past. What remained of them, anyway.

The decay had been cleared away, but that was all. The blackened bones of what had once been remained. The town had plenty of funding to rebuild, but they were unwilling to do so. After the deaths of over four-hundred citizens, including the seventy-odd promising seniors on the verge of graduating, Chamberlain's spirit had died with it. Now Chamberlain laid in ruins, waiting for the wind to blow the ashes away.

The townspeople who weren't killed either remained, waiting for death, or moved far away, including the owner of Kelly Fruit and Miss Desjardin. The Snell family would have left as well, but Sue's pregnancy forced them to postpone their plans to vacate. For the nine months they stayed, they spent the time preparing to leave. Sue and her mother organized and boxed away their possessions in preparation for the day they finally did leave, and Sue's father put in contacts all over the country for a career relocation; he was currently in line for a job in Chicago.

While Sue anxiously awaited the day she could leave as far away from this God-forsaken town as possible, what she was most grateful for was the end of the relentless investigations. Hours upon hours inside the police house interview rooms, standing before the State Investigatory Board, and the worst of all, the White Commission. For the first time in her life, she understood what it was like to be Carrie White; the target, the scapegoat, the wearer of a scarlet letter of damnation. They claimed to be looking for a cause behind it all, but she knew that they just wanted someone to crucify, and she was the easiest person for them to label. Billy Nolan and his friend Jackie Talbot were the ones who slaughtered the pigs and filled the buckets, Christine Hargensen pulled the rope, and Margaret White held the knife, but all of them were dead and buried now. So they turned on her. She may have been guilty, but not for the things they wanted her to be.

The two Snell women turned from Ewen Avenue and down Carlin Street, where lines of uniform bungalows of faded shades of whites, blues, and yellows had once occupied it. Now it was the same as most of the town, ripped bare with naked lots and charred trees.

She had only passed through this street on a few occasions, such as now, to use as a shortcut to her own home. As they passed by one house, Sue spotted a sign impaled into the ground just outside the perimeter of one of the missing houses.

"Mom, stop the car," said Sue, grabbing her mother by her shoulder.

Her mother released the gas and applied pressure to brake, and she pulled the car in parallel to the curb.

"Are you okay, Suzy?" she asked as the car came to a halt, "The little one making you car sick? I know I always did when I was having you."

Sue was out of the vehicle before her mom even finished her sentence. She heard her calling after her, but she ignored her and continued across the sidewalk and up the lawn of dead grass, her calves swishing rhythmically under the skirt of her dark pink maternity dress, moving with surprising grace considering the heavy counterweight she carried in her front. She didn't know why she wanted to come here, but some part of her, somewhere within a deep, buried chamber of her soul, urged her towards it.

Written in red paint on the sign, it read:

"CARRIE WHITE IS BURNING FOR HER SINS

JESUS NEVER FAILS"

Her blood boiled at the sight of it. It was unfair. This was a girl everyone was calling a monster; Carrie White, the quiet, pudgy, pimply-faced girl whose home was made a torture cell of worship. The girl couldn't step foot outside without being barraged without mercy. The girl was given only two hours of joy before it was taken away from her. That was all she was: a girl, no worse than any of those who thought themselves her better. Including Sue.

For the first time, Sue felt regret, true regret. If only she had done more, if only she had just left her alone from the beginning, if only she had done the decent thing and apologized, if only she wasn't so consumed by being a Perfect Girl, a Miss Popular, and realized just how wrong what she and her friends were doing was. If only, if only.

In the midst of her dwelling on her failures, her mother approached. She said something like, "We should be going," but Sue wasn't listening. A kick came from inside her, and in the same instant, the sign fell loose from its post, landing face-down to the Earth. Her mother's hand touched her shoulder, only to receive a spark of static electricity that left her fingertips red hot. Another, even stronger kick came, and Sue felt water trickling down her legs.


	4. Chapter 4

After ten and a half hours of the second most agonizing pain she had ever experienced, Susan Snell gave birth to a baby girl. The ordeal drained her, leaving her unconscious until the following evening. After she had come to, the nurse brought her baby to her, wrapped in a soft white blanket and sleeping soundly.

Her skin was a warm peach color, her cheeks and button nose shiny pink. On her head was only a thin patch of dark hair. Sue's mother, who had stayed in the room with her, moved in closer to get a good look at her new grandchild.

"She's precious, Suzy," she said in a whisper, "So, what are you gonna name her?"

Sue had a list of options for baby names a mile long compiled from weeks of reading books filled with different names. Anne, Jeanette, Bridget, Caroline, Bethany, Amy, Matilda, Samantha, Chloe, Grace… but there was one that she finally decided upon.

"Sarah."


End file.
